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Sunday, July 24, 2016

“Betrayal” (Hosea 1:2-10)

“Et tu, Brute?”

Recognize those words?They are possibly the most famous three words
uttered in literature . . . these words, written by Shakespeare from his play
Julius Caesar, have come down through history to mean the ultimate betrayal by
one’s closest friend.The word are
spoken in the scene in which the conspirators in the Roman Senate assassinate
Caesar.Among those participating in the
killing of Caesar is Brutus, a close friend of Caesar . . . thus the words, “Et
tu, Brute?”Much to Caesar’s surprise
even one of his closest friends has stabbed him in the back . . . “Even you,
Brutus?”

Betrayal.

Such a nasty word that is highlighted
by such words as disloyalty . . . unfaithfulness . . . disappointment . . .
violation . . . deception.“Betrayal is the
breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that
produces a moral and psychological conflict within a relationship between
individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations”,
according to one source. Or, as Caesar
experiences in Shakespeare’s play, it is getting stabbed in the back.No one enjoys getting stabbed in the back.

No one enjoys being betrayed.Having said that, I imagine that all of us
have stories of being on the short end of being betrayed.Shoot, I also imagine that we have stories of
having been a part of betrayal in our lives.The bottom line is that all of us understand what the word means and how
it affects us . . . it sucks.

Ask God, God will tell you.

Our reading this morning is about
betrayal.This is the story about the
prophet Hosea, which is a reflection of God’s story.Hosea’s turf was the northern kingdom of
Israel.The focus of his preaching was
to be on the idolatry of the people and their continued unfaithfulness towards
God . . . to preach about their betrayal of God.This was something that Hosea understood
thanks to a marriage that was arranged by God.

As the story goes, God commands Hosea
to marry a prostitute . . . not quite the most reasonable or smart thing to do
in the eyes of the community . . . sort of made him the laughing stock of the
people.So he married the prostitute
named Gomer . . . and they have children . . . three to be exact.Children that would have a tough road ahead
of them in life as they were the children of a prostitute . . . outcasts and
pariahs in the community.Each child’s
name represents the brokenness of God’s relationship with the people . . .
echoes the betrayal that God feels.A
betrayal that Hosea knows from experience as Gomer leaves him to be with other
men.Hosea understands.Thus the message of his preaching to the
people is simple . . . repent and return to God.

Return to God . . . that seems to be a
prevalent plea throughout the history of Christianity . . . throughout history,
period.That seems to be something we
have heard a time or two during this political season and the tumultuous times
that we are living in.We need to return
to God.Are we living in a season of
betrayal . . . and, if so, who betrayed whom?

As a follower of Jesus I have
attempted to embrace the simple command that he asked upon all of his followers
. . . to love the Lord completely, and to love others as we love
ourselves.I have always interpreted that
to mean that I need to focus on my relationship with God in a loving and
intimate relationship that spins out into relating to others in a like
manner.A simple command, but a
difficult one to live up to on a daily basis.Yet, that is what I believe we are all called to focus on in our
lives.And, I believe that this is the
first and most important thing that we can do with our lives . . . everything
else comes second.We are called to “kingdom
building.”

The Book of Hosea paints a pretty bleak picture of the people of God in
their relationship with God.Using his
own experience of betrayal . . . of having a wife who sleeps around, Hosea
points to the people and proclaims to them—for God, “Et tu, Brute?”As Gomer sleeps with other men, the northern
kingdom—Israel, leaves God to dally with other gods.It is a bleak picture of betrayal and no one
enjoys being called a traitor . . . not then or now.So, Hosea’s message and plea, return to God.

In looking at the world around us . .
. listening to all of the rhetoric being thrown around . . . watching the
nightly news . . . the word on the street seems to be that we are living in
some pretty messed up times that reflect the possibility that humanity has
strayed a ways from God . . . a long way from God.Our time, in the minds of many, is that these
are not what God wants.That humanity
has wandered away from God.That
humanity has betrayed God.I have even
heard that the “end is coming.”

And, who are we to argue?The similarities are pretty consistent.It is almost as if we are walking in the
shoes of Hosea.Is there any “good news”
to come out of this situation . . . out of this story of Hosea and God’s
betrayal?Of course there is.

Despite the bleakness of the story . .
. despite all the pain that is felt in the story . . . there is “good news” . .
. there is hope.And, again, it comes in
Hosea’s own story.That hope is built
upon that idiom that we, the faithful, often forget . . . God never gives up on
us.Hosea never gave up on Gomer.As Hosea offered Gomer a relationship despite
her betrayal, so would God for the people of the northern kingdom of
Israel.The constant love of God for the
people would prevail.God would win back
the hearts of the people.As Hosea could
not give up on Gomer, neither could God give up on Israel.This love was too expansive, too broad, for
God to give up . . . God would not run away as the people had.God would stand with them despite their
betrayal.

Despite the bleakness of the world we
are living in today . . . there is hope.God will not abandon us despite humanity’s betrayal of God and the ways
of God.God will stick with us.But . . . we need to return to God.We need to return to what we have been called
to do as the followers of Jesus.We need
to work on our relationship with God . . . to embrace the intimacy of God’s
love and grace into our lives . . . to make it our own . . . to realize God’s
immense love for us as individuals . . . to be who God created us to be—the
children of God.We need to then allow
that love to spill out of us in the relationships we have with others . . . in
the relationships we have with each other.We need to love others as we are loved by God . . . as we love
ourselves.This is the return to God
that we need.

That command from Jesus came in a
dialogue with someone who was questioning him about the commandments and laws
of faith.The question was, which is the
most important.Jesus told the
individual that loving God and others was the most important.Then, to emphasis just how important these
were, Jesus said, that with these two are covered all the laws and words of the
prophets.If you do these, everything
else will take care of itself.

Return to God.

That’s it.That is what we all need to do . . . return
to God.In a world that has betrayed God
. . . turned its back on God and others . . . we find hope.Hope because God does not give up on us . . .
because God desires a relationship with us . . . because God loves us.Paraphrasing God in Hosea 11:8, God declares:
“How
can I give you up, Israel?How can I
abandon you? . . . My heart will not let me do it!My love for you is too strong!”

In our times, that is still the “good
news”.Ask Hosea.Ask God.They will tell you . . . and, they should know.Amen.